14. Under siege

When the portal closed behind the four travellers, Seren let out a breath of surprise. She'd have thought Merlin would have brought them right back to Camelot itself, but instead, they stood on the shores of Avalon once more.

Liam's fingers left hers as she heard him grasp his cutlass' hilt as he cursed under his breath.

She whirled around to see what exactly had him – and only him – so tense.

Kilgharrah was there, lying on his paws, big golden eyes locked to the young humans.

Henry smiled broadly and bowed the head. "Great Dragon." Seren's eyes widened as she could not process the fact that he knew him, but Kilgharrah raised his head and blew out a puff of smoke in greeting.

"Young Henry. You are a man now." His eyes then shifted to Seren, and to the Staff she still held. If it had been possible, he'd have smiled. "Young one, you have succeeded in finding the Grail." She glanced down at the stick, having almost forgotten about it. "And your magic with it."

She nodded and smiled as well. "Thanks to an old friend of yours, I believe. We've met Merlin."

"Emrys..." Kilgharrah's eyes seemed to darken with sadness. "It has been many a year since I heard that name..." he didn't add anything else for a moment, then he glanced at Galahad. "You have arrived at the right moment. The witch has got Camelot under siege."

Galahad surged forward irreverently. "For how long?"

"A week. I heard the commotion from here."

Seren walked forward and placed herself next to her friend. "Can you bring us home quicker?"

Kilgharrah let out a low chuckle that seemed painful, somehow. "I am far too old for this, young Seren. The last time a human was on my back, it was already hard for me to sustain such long distances. Now, I can barely move from here..."

She nodded. "I understand. Pardon me for asking."

"You have nothing to apologize for. I am old. Not cowardly." He paused. "You should hurry. Your father," he looked at Galahad, "has left two horses nearby, ready to leave at any given time. If the witch's men have not found them, they are still there."

"Two horses?" Henry grunted. "There are four of us."

Kilgharrah seemed little interested. "Then you will have to share with your brother, young prince."

Liam, who had not uttered a word since setting eyes on the dragon, swallowed visibly, but didn't say anything.

Seren would have laughed at this sight – the fearsome pirate shivering under the gaze of an old dragon, how ironic – but didn't, instead walking until she could touch Kilgharrah's paw with her hand. "Thank you again. I will try to come to you when this is over."

"I know you will. You are much like your mother." It stung to hear those words, but the following soothed the pain a little. "The same kindness and loyalty to her friends." He looked over at her three companions. "Now leave. Our world is at stake."

And they did. Seren glanced over her shoulder as they left the open space of the Lake, and smiled one last time at the dragon who placed his head back on his paws, visibly exhausted. Then she realised he had surely not eaten since Lancelot – his only visitor – had been trapped in Camelot, and cursed.

She raised her hand to stop her companions. "Find the horses. I'll be back in five." She outstretched a hand to snatch her bow from Gad's shoulders – where it had been for some time now – and ran to the nearby woods under the others' cries.

If she had stayed back a little longer, she'd have heard Galahad reassure Henry and Liam. She knew Camelot's woods like the back of her hand.

When she was certain that Kilgharrah had enough food to last at least three days – two wild boards and a whole swarm of rabbits – Seren joined her friends again. They had found the two horses and Galahad was attaching the saddle on his and Seren's when she arrived.

Without a word, she mounted, he doing the same behind her a moment later. Henry and Liam mounted theirs, the position obviously uncomfortable both for their bodies and egos, and they set out.

Galahad chuckled darkly a moment later. "We've just been back and you had to play good little Samaritan, hadn't you?"

"Shut up." But she smiled nevertheless, and despite the gravity of the situation. She was home.

And apparently, it showed. To Henry and Liam, riding behind them, Seren and Galahad were much more relaxed and at ease now they were back in their home-realm. To one, it was reassuring. To the other, it only meant one more battle to win the young woman's heart.

They rode for a whole hour before coming in sight of a ruined village. Some remnants of houses still smoked from having been burnt to the ground, but the lack of bodies at least told Seren that the inhabitants had possibly moved to Camelot before Circé's army destroyed the village.

In the distance, she could see the tip of the highest tower of Camelot.

The Staff in her hand pulsed with magic, and for a moment, she realised she had now powers she did not know she had. And one of them, was to talk through minds.

She had never done it before, and did not know if she could, but she reached anyway, her face crunched in a look of concentration her companions could not place. Her mind stretched out far, and touched another.

She understood now why only magical beings could speak that way. Their minds were much brighter to find, as candles in a room full of darkness. And the person she was seeking's soul looked a lot like hers – green and golden.

The mind opened to hers at once, although he had probably expected one of his fellow druids.

"What is it? Has the Lower City fallen?"

Seren's teeth gritted. So it was that grave. "Mordred. It's Seren." She did not know why she called him that when her mind naturally called him 'Uncle'. It was perhaps a little too early for that. She had only met him, after all.

She sensed a jump of surprise in his mind, then a surge of relief. "Seren. You are back? Do you have it?"

"I do." Another surge of relief. "How's the city holding?"

"I fear we may have to consider letting them in. The food supplies are getting low, and most of the Knights are either... ...or wounded."

"Lancelot?"

"He's fine. The Queen also. Percival is wounded, but not gravely so." He paused. "You will have to enter the city through one of the secret passages."

"Do you have one in mind?"

There was a chuckle, which felt odd, in her mind. "You know Camelot probably better than I do. I trust you will find out. Hurry."

The link broke easily, and when her mind snapped back inside her own body, Seren felt strangely spent. But not physically so. Magically so. She guessed she'd have to practise this means of communication a little more before it felt natural.

"So? How is Camelot faring?"

Galahad's words were not so surprising to Seren. He should have guessed she'd check if their loved ones were still alive. How he knew her means was beyond her, though.

She smiled despite herself. "They're alive. But they need us."

"Then let's hurry." He kicked his horse's sides, and the beast sprang forward a little faster. They'd reach the city in another hour.

When they arrived in sight of the castle, both Seren and Galahad cursed loudly and gritted their teeth in a similar manner. They stopped their horses in the cover of the trees, in fear of being seen by the huge army that camped at the foot of the walls.

It looked as though every man able in the neighbouring kingdoms had been enrolled in Circé's army. More than one flag flew in the air, although one in particular could be seen at regular paces: the symbol of a Triskellion, an old druidic sign that symbolised the past, the present and the future. This symbol had been seen before in Camelot, but in darker days.

Seren dismounted and her companions did too. She assessed the scene before her, her brow furrowed. Henry came to stand beside her, leaning on his sword. Despite the situation, his grey eyes were widened as those of a child who had just stepped into his dream.

"So this is the great city of Camelot."

Seren nodded gravely. "It is much more lovely when it's not under attack, I can assure you." She nodded once at Galahad, whose eyes too flew over the massive amount of men below them. "Can you see an entrance?"

He quickly shook his head. "They are all around. There is no way we can enter through one of the passages closest to the walls."

She cursed, then her mind flew to memories of a time when they had been playing in the woods, not so far East from there, and had stumbled upon a huge crater. She smiled. "Then I guess we'll have to take the Path of the Dragon." This is how they had called it when Lancelot had chastised them both and told them what it was.

Galahad's eyes widened, but he nodded. "I have to agree, it is much stealthier. But we'll need a rope."

Liam spoke up, though his eyes were still on the city ahead. "Leave that to me. What is exactly this Path of the Dragon?"

Seren smirked. "Kilgharrah was once upon a time trapped under Camelot, in a cave. Impeded by magical chains. Merlin freed him, and he escaped by naturally making the ceiling cave in. The crater is still out there, well hidden. I don't think Circé's men could have stumbled upon it if they hadn't been looking. And if they had found it, Camelot would not be standing still."

Henry nodded. "Then lead the way."

They hurried down an invisible path, leaving the horses behind. Galahad lead the way, Seren close behind, her mind alert to any kind of sounds in the trees ahead. All was silent, apart from the occasional chirping of a bird.

It didn't take much more than ten minutes for them to stumble upon the path of two men, possibly making rounds. They were both clad in furs, one of them wielding an axe while the others, who sported a nasty scar on the right side of his face, held a sword which had visibly not been polished in a long time.

Seren notched an arrow that embedded itself in the skull of the second, while a swift and seemingly harmless whirl of Galahad's sword beheaded the first. They had not even had the time to call for help.

"Remind me never to cross any of you..."

Seren smirked at her cousin's antics, and pushed forward.

When they reached a very old gnarled tree, they turned South, as if they were leaving Camelot behind, until they found several fallen boulders squeezed together so closely it would be impossible for anyone who did not wish it to pass through.

They were, actually, boulders from the cave below, pushed free by an escaping angry dragon.

Seren climbed onto the first followed by Liam and Henry, who did not know the woods well enough to survey. The boulders were close together even from the top, except for two which opened onto nothing at all. Kilgharrah had closed his "door" behind him, and the hole was big enough only for toned people. Which they were, thankfully.

Liam got out a good length of rope from his satchel, and quickly tied it to a rock. Seren regarded his handiwork appreciatively. His knot, in particular, showed a long time spent at sea, where sometimes, tying yourself to a good rope saved your life from the raging waves.

He handed her the rope, but she shook her head. "No. Gad should go first. I'll go last. I have magic, and can steady myself if need be."

Liam nodded, not discussing her orders once. He glanced down into the hole, and his nose turned up. "It doesn't smell good down there."

She chuckled. "Dragon." Galahad reached them, and without a word, she handed him the rope. A moment later, with a silent whirl of wrist, a ball of light was floating in the cave below. Which really looked deeper than anything else they'd seen. Conveniently, some sort of balcony lay right under their position, even if it was a good fifty meters down.

Galahad tied himself to the rope and swiftly got down into the hole. Liam and Henry helped him down, down, down, until his feet touched the rock below and he gave a little tug on the rope.

"Liam next." Seren did not doubt her own ability to help Henry down. Her cousin was a thin man, he should not have weighted much more than herself. And besides, she had magic.

When the pirate-prince was down, Henry tied himself, but looked really less at ease than his brother. Guessing he had a fear of heights, Seren reassured him. "Look up at me. I won't leave your sight." He nodded, and disappeared in the darkness below.

Henry had not soon enough touched the ground that a cry behind Seren told her that their enemy must have found their brothers-in-arms. She cursed and hurried to tie herself down, jumping into the hole without so much as a thought.

When her feet touched concrete ground and a pair of hands steadied her – no time to ponder whose it was – she raised her hands in the air. "Kielthai!" A rush of magic escaped her, and the boulders above collapsed, condemning the entrance once and for all.

Silence reigned in the cave for a long moment after that.

Then Seren chuckled nervously. "That was a close call. I hope they haven't heard..."

"You were being followed?" Galahad asked, his sword needlessly raised before him.

"I think they might have found the two we killed. But they hadn't found me when I descended."

"No matter, now we are in, and they..." Liam glanced up, "have no means to follow."

All three others nodded. Then Henry chuckled darkly. "Now where to?"

Seren pondered, then glanced down, catching sight of a very old torch abandoned on the ground. She picked it up, and with a soft whispered "Bialdon burne", its light cast high shadows on the stone walls beside them. A crack in the stone led, no doubt, deep into the castle. "This way." They all followed.

Seren wondered, as they climbed a high flight of stairs that led, in her memory, to the dungeons, how Merlin could have possibly come down to visit Kilgharrah all this time without being found out. It wasn't really the most secret passage in all of Camelot...but then, she reminded herself, she had never found the Dragon's prison in all her years of hiding in dark corners. So this place must have been special.

At last, after a long running down a corridor, they arrived in sight of a group of youngsters, stable-boys ridiculously clad in pieces of armour and wielding swords twice as big as they.

Seren recognized one of them and disturbed the grave conversation the group seemed to be having. "Emun!"

The boy, who was not older than thirteen, whirled around, his brown eyes widening upon seeing her. He fell into a rushed bow before walking up to her. "Lady Seren!" Then he glanced at Galahad and his bow was even deeper. "My Lord. How...?"

"No time to explain. Where is the Queen?"

"In the Great Hall, my lady. Tending to the wounded."

"Thank you." She gestured her companions forward, and climbed the stairs to their left, which led to the upper levels, and her family.

More than once they were stopped by groups of refugees, hunched against walls in the huge corridors leading to the Great Hall. Seeing their prince had a invigorating effect on them, as they had been apparently told what he and Seren had gone to fetch. It brought her a small sense of pride, to be able to raise their spirits when they had almost lost all hope.

At last they reached the massive wooden doors to the Great Hall. They were opened, no guards standing before them. The room was crowded with makeshift beds, a dozen people running from person to person, offering a mere gulp of water or changing bandages. The acre smell of blood floated in the air.

When Seren caught sight of a lilac gown, she sprang forward, Galahad on tow. "Aunt Gwen!"

The Queen raised her head from her present patient, and her brown eyes filled with happy tears at once. She put the bowl down and hurried to both her children, embracing both while sobbing. "You're home... You're safe..."

Galahad kissed his mother's hair, soothing her. "We are. And we have brought the Grail with us."

Guinevere glanced up and wiped her tears off her cheeks. Her eyes went to the Staff in Seren's hand and she nodded gravely. "Right. I have to summon a Council."

Seren stopped her with a hand on her arm. "Wait. Mordred said that most of the Knights were...unable to fight."

Gwen nodded, her eyes darkening. "Yes. I'm afraid a good half of our troops has died. And the other half is either badly or lightly wounded." She waved to one of her maids to tend to her patient for her, and hurried back towards the doors with her children behind her.

When she arrived in sight of Liam and Henry, who had remained back, her brow raised.

"Oh yes... Mother, this is Henry, and Liam, from the Enchanted Forest. They've helped us all the way and came here to help us finish this."

Gwen nodded once. "The time for warm welcomes has not come, I'm afraid, but your presence is appreciated. Come. Lancelot and Mordred are in the courtyard."

Once again, the sight of the Queen and her Prince raised spirits immensely as they crossed the halls towards the main courtyard of the castle. Once or twice, a woman stood, shaking Seren's hand in hers without a word. But it was enough to make her feel welcomed all the same.

It was normal that Galahad's presence was much more appreciated than hers. He was the future King, after all. But knowing that some still saw her return as a good thing was touching.

The main courtyard was a much grimmer sight than the Great Hall. There had been piled the dead, covered in blank or grey sheets to hide their wounds or state.

And in the middle of it all stood two figures, both clad in Knight's armours.

Lancelot was the first to noticed his wife and her companions. His dark eyes lit as he glanced at Seren, and the young woman flung herself at him first, her arms encompassing him tightly.

He embraced her back, a sigh of relief escaping him. "You are alright... Good gracious..." She smiled at his antics, knowing he, perhaps, was the person who had feared the most for her.

She kissed his cheek and left the safe haven of his arms to let him welcome his son. She moved to Mordred.

The druid stood awkwardly, obviously unsure as to how to greet her.

She damned her cold heart and decided that he, at least, deserved a bit of forgiving. She kissed his cheek as well, and smiled.

He smiled back. "I am glad to see you in good shape."

"Likewise... Uncle." His smile widened.

Gwen let Galahad and Seren be greeted by both men, before clearing her throat. "We need to gather in my office. With all the Knights able. Percy. Bedivere. Gaheris. Ywain."

Lancelot nodded. "I'll fetch them at once." Then he glanced at the two men who, once again, had stood back. He smiled as he seemed to recognize one of them. "You are Henry. Lily's nephew."

The sound of Seren's mother's name sent a pang of hurt into her heart, as it usually did, but seeing Henry gratefully accept such link and smiling to her surrogate father was enough not to mind it too much.

"I am. I remember you, Sir Lancelot. This is my brother, Liam."

Lancelot nodded before passing them both. "I hope that cutlass of yours is sharp, Liam. You'll need it." And he disappeared inside the castle once more.

Behind them, a great booming sound echoed, coming, no doubt, from the Lower City.

Mordred sighed, and glanced at his niece. "The gate has fallen."